News Archive

Omer Bayraktar to lead new research group in the Cellular Genetics Programme

The Faculty appointment, starting in August 2018, will develop high-throughput pipelines to map human tissues one cell at a time

The Wellcome Sanger Institute is pleased to announce that Omer Bayraktar will be joining its Cellular Genetics Faculty in August 2018 to create a map of the individual cells and networks in the cortex of the human brain. Omer’s work will help to lay the foundations needed to understand how this complex region of the brain develops and functions.

Genome damage from CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing higher than thought

The study in Nature Biotechnology revealed that standard DNA tests miss finding this genetic damage. This has safety implications for future gene therapies using CRISPR/Cas9, because the unexpected damage might lead to dangerous changes in some cells. The authors caution that specific testing may be required for potential gene therapies.

Roots of leukaemia reveal possibility of predicting people at risk

Mutations in blood identify individuals at high risk of developing leukaemia

Wellcome Sanger Institute researchers and collaborators found that patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) had genetic changes in their blood years before they suddenly developed the disease. The study published in Nature shows that further research could allow earlier detection and monitoring of people at risk of AML in the future.

Cholera spread tracked at household level

The results could be used by public health officials to improve cholera control strategies

For the first time, the transmission of cholera has been tracked at the household level across Dhaka, Bangladesh, a city with a ‘hyper-endemic’ level of the disease. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators found that nearly 80 per cent of the cholera transmission in Dhaka occurred between people who shared a household. The results of the large-scale genomic study could be used by public health officials to improve cholera control strategies.

Wellcome Sanger Institute calls for the free movement of scientists across European borders following Brexit

The Institute has provided evidence for the UK Government Science and Technology Committee’s inquiry into an immigration system that works for science and innovation

In response to the UK Parliament Science and Technology Committee’s inquiry, the Sanger Institute has made a number of recommendations: that the current immigration system is not fit for purpose and therefore it should not be transposed onto EEA nationals, once the UK leaves the EU and that Students from EEA countries who have completed undergraduate qualifications in the UK should be given time to remain in the UK to allow them to look for work.

Genomics offers new treatment options for infants with range of soft tissue tumours

Scientists uncover the genetic changes causing a group of related infant cancers

The genetic causes of a group of related infant cancers have been discovered by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Wuerzburg and their collaborators. Whole genome sequencing of tumours revealed mutations which are targetable by existing drugs used to treat lung cancer and melanoma.

A genetic change affecting the transcription factor, FOS is specific to osteoblastoma, distinguishing it from osteosarcoma

The first genetic marker for the bone tumour, osteoblastoma, has been discovered by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators. The results, published in Nature Communications, will help clinicians correctly distinguish benign osteoblastoma tumours from aggressive osteosarcoma tumours and direct the correct treatment.

Cambridge LIFE LAB project wins place in Europe's largest public science event

LIFE LAB will be led by Wellcome Genome Campus Public Engagement, and delivered by a consortium including the Wellcome Sanger Institute

Five Cambridge science institutions have won a bid to engage the local region with science as part of European Researchers Night*, the largest public science event in Europe. LIFE LAB is one of four UK initiatives awarded funding from the European Commission. It will establish a programme of pop-up science events in shopping centres, cafes and music venues across Cambridgeshire on 28th September 2018 and again on 27th September 2019.

Microbiotica, a leading player in microbiome-based therapeutics spun out of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, today announced that it has entered into a multi-year strategic collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to discover, develop and commercialise biomarkers, targets and medicines for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Gonorrhoea, deadly plague and dysentery among collection of bacterial genomes now publicly available through collaboration with Pacific Biosciences

The genomes of more than 3,000 bacteria, including some of the world’s most dangerous, have been sequenced by researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in collaboration with Pacific Biosciences (PacBio). Infecting tens of millions of people worldwide every year, these bacteria have been collected by the National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) and include deadly strains of plague, dysentery and cholera.